What's Occupy up to now?

Yes, the movement is still well and going strong. The Occupy movement was in the spotlight, then it was hit hard with extremely ill-manufactured reporting by many of the mainstream media outlets. The movement was also brutalized by police across the country, day after day and week after week.

Recently released documents from the FBI show that it was watching closely and creating files on the Occupy Wall Street movement from the early days.

It is truly frightening to see our rights and freedoms being stripped from us, most obviously being the right to freedom of speech and the right to assemble.

The new National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013, which once again allows for the indefinite detention of American citizens, makes this even scarier. Some would like to have the people of this nation, and of this world, believe the Occupy movement failed and that it is no longer active.

Many of us think that the general public deserves to know the facts about this movement without having to dig for information.

Here is a brief summary of just a few of the ongoing actions related to the Occupy movement.

* Occupy Sandy -- Occupy Sandy formed quickly after Superstorm Sandy ravaged parts of New York City and New Jersey. Mostly made up of Occupy Wall Street activists, this group has raised nearly $500,000 to help the relief effort. Many have said that Occupy Sandy has even surpassed the efforts of the likes of the Red Cross and FEMA, which actually shut down its aid center during the storms while the Occupy Sandy volunteers remained. This is still happening, as many are still houseless and suffering. To donate, volunteer or find out more, please check out interoccupy.net/occupysandy.

* StrikeDebt/Rolling Jubilee -- This idea began with a small group of Occupy Wall Street activists. The goal was modest: They would raise $50,000, use it to buy distressed medical debt on the secondary debt market and then, rather than hounding the debtors as collection agencies do, they would wipe it out completely, thus freeing the person from that debt.

The group has now raised more than $500,000 -- enough to buy up to $10 million worth of debt, which it has forgiven. When the banks got bailed out, the people got sold out and now we are taking matters into our own hands. To donate or find out more, visit: StrikeDebt.org.

* Occupy Our Homes -- The Occupy Wall Street movement and brave homeowners around the country are coming together to say, "Enough is enough." We, the 99 percent, are standing up to Wall Street banks and demanding they negotiate with homeowners instead of foreclosing on them. Many across the country have occupied and even barricaded their homes against evictions. For more information, or to get involved, please visit: OccupyOurHomes.org

These are just a few of the many events taking place.

Other events and movements include Occupy Goldman Sachs, Idle No More, Project Mayhem and Occupy Steubenville.

All are worth checking out if you are interested in such things as freedom and justice.

We can hope for change, but we must also act for change. See you in the streets.